Opinion: Why BSD Should Continue to Provide CDL in the 2021–22 School Year
By Camden Maggard
All opinions and beliefs expressed in this article are those of our editorial board and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of the Sunset Scroll.
Why is it that the Beaverton School District has been so quick to declare that all non-FLEX students will be required to return to physical school in the 2021–22 school year? Before students even began to attend school in the newly-implemented hybrid model — the widely accepted transition phase between a CDL model and the standard five day school schedule — the district has announced that they will not be offering CDL in the same format as they are currently, meaning all students wishing to remain at home will be required to attend the limited FLEX program, barring any changes to the state guidelines or significantly higher COVID-19 rates.
This is not what the student body wants: nearly half of all secondary-level BSD students have opted to remain in CDL for the remainder of the 2020–21 school year, and it’s likely that not all of the remaining students will continue to attend hybrid through June. There are many legitimate reasons why a student would choose to remain in the CDL model — for example, a student may wish to protect loved ones at home that are susceptible to the disease or remain distanced for their own safety for as long as possible. With such a large percentage of the student population opting out of the hybrid program, it seems both impractical and premature of the district to announce that all of these students will be required to either leave their comprehensive schools and enroll in a program that doesn’t offer the same kinds of classes or individual support or attend school in a way that makes them feel that they or their families are being put at undue risk. If the district goes ahead with their current stated plan, thousands of students will be forced to make a choice they don’t want to make, a choice between sacrificing their physical safety or the quality of their educational experience. BSD shouldn’t force such a large portion of their student body to commit to one of these two programs unwillingly, especially given that there is a far simpler — and plainly obvious — alternative.
Throughout the 2020–21 school year, the district has continued to develop and improve the CDL model implemented, and due to the district’s wealth of student technology most BSD students don’t face the same kind of digital access barriers that students in less wealthy districts do. CDL works for many Beaverton students, and under BSD’s current educational model students who struggle with CDL due to having difficult home environments, special needs, or difficulty engaging online are provided with an alternative with the newly implemented hybrid model. There’s no reason why the district shouldn’t continue this model, a model that provides options for all types of learners and families, into the next school year. By doing so, the district would provide reasonable educational options for all of its students, resulting in the student population feeling more comfortable with the options provided to them.
There’s a reason why many students don’t want to return to school: despite rapid vaccination rates in the state of Oregon, COVID-19 transmission rates have not been slowing down. In fact, the state of Oregon (alongside the rest of the nation) has been seeing increased COVID-19 rates, likely as a result of overconfidence present in the population at large stemming from vaccinations. According to Governor Kate Brown, as of last week, over half of Oregon’s counties have recently re-entered the “high-risk” category due to the increased COVID-19 transmission rates. COVID-19 vaccinations — while largely successful — are not 100% effective at protecting patients from the virus, and programs allowing for and encouraging the resumption of normal activity, such as the one the district is now proposing for the 2021–22 school year, are contributing to these increased numbers. It’s both unfair and unnecessary of the district to expect the large portion of its student body currently in CDL to return to school under these potentially dangerous conditions if they don’t want to abandon their schools and academic programs in order to attend FLEX.
The COVID-19 pandemic is not over, and the district must recognize that there is a need for distance learning when creating its plan for the 2021–22 school year. The obvious solution? Continue the hybrid model, allowing for students to choose between CDL and in-person instruction according to their own comfort level. CDL is both safer than in-person school and an effective educational model for many students, and given that teachers are already familiar with the hybrid model there’s no clear reason for the district to not continue providing CDL as an option for students. By continuing the current hybrid model, BSD can better meet the needs of the student body, providing multiple options for students with different comfort levels regarding COVID-19 and protecting at-risk families without forcing people to abandon their schools or academic programs. The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for students, teachers, and administrators alike, which means that the district needs to continue providing pragmatic and flexible educational solutions that are well tested and accommodating of all comfort levels and types of learners until the main viral threat has passed or long-term solutions are established.
